


Tattoos and Oranges

by MeganMoonlight



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Adorable, Crushes, Cute, Eavesdropping, M/M, Oranges, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Rare Characters, Rare Pairings, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-02
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2019-01-28 14:14:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12608440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeganMoonlight/pseuds/MeganMoonlight
Summary: While going to visit Sera, Mahanon accidentally overhears Sutherland and his company talking  about him.





	Tattoos and Oranges

Mahanon Lavellan entered the Herald’s Rest, a bunch of oranges for Sera and Cole hidden securely in his pouch as he made his way to the stairs. He greeted Iron Bull and Krem on the way and headed upstairs to reach Sera’s room first.

The door was closed, and he stepped closer to knock and check if Sera was even there, but before he had a chance to do so, he heard a familiar voice, usually filled with excitement and eagerness, now sounding miserable.

When Mahanon glanced at the nearby table he saw Sutherland and a couple of his friends sitting there. Sutherland had both hands wrapped around the tankard standing on the table, and the other members of his team were looking at each other worriedly.

“Come on, don’t do that,” said Shayd after a while. “Let’s go ask the Commander if he has something for us to do, so you won’t have to sit here getting drunk. It’s been almost a week, you know.”

“I don’t think that will help,” Sutherland murmured, and for a moment Mahanon wanted to leave them alone to talk, it wasn’t his business after all, but then Sutherland continued speaking. “I had told him that face tattoos are sexy. I had actually said those words. When talking to the Inquisitor. Who has tattoos on his face.”

“So what?” said a dwarf Mahanon didn’t recognize, as she scratched her head briefly. “They might be attractive, if you’re in that kind of thing, I would say.”

“Yes, but I shouldn’t have said that. I’m me and he’s _the Inquisitor_. What must he think of me now?”

“But you like him, right?” asked Rat.

“That is really not the point,” Sutherland’s voice became quieter then and Mahanon recalled the conversation Sutherland mentioned.

About a week earlier Mahanon had asked Sutherland and his Company to accompany him to the Hinterlands to check caves and collect resources. They had stopped in one of the camps and he wasn’t sure who had started the conversation, but they had ended up talking about tattoos. When one of the scouts working with them mentioned not being a fan of tattoos, Sutherland indeed had said he finds face tattoos sexy. The man had been looking right at Mahanon when he had said that, and when Mahanon had smiled at the comment, Sutherland had rapidly looked down at his hands, getting back to securing their resources, as the rest had continued to chat.

Mahanon hadn’t seen Sutherland since then, but when he thought about that, he did notice Sutherland was very attentive, always ready to help whenever Mahanon had a job to do, or cheering him up when something was not going according to his plans. He just always assumed that the man was happy to work for the Inquisition, to prove himself, not that he was actually interested in Mahanon himself. And while unexpected, the attention was not unwelcome.

Sutherland’s Company fell silent, and Mahanon saw them walking away, Rat patting Sutherland comfortingly on the back. What should he do? Sutherland was obviously worried about what had happened and Mahanon briefly thought about telling him not to worry, but on the other hand he didn’t want to embarrass the man any further.

He sighed and looked down at the pouch full of oranges before he decided he could get more for Sera and Cole later. He walked up to Sutherland’s table, making sure the man heard him, and greeted him, putting the pouch on the table.

“I wanted to thank you for accompanying me to the Hinterlands,” he said, smiling at Sutherland, who stood up from the table to greet him. “We received oranges from Antivan merchants. I hope you’ll like them.”

“Thank you, Inquisitor. I mean, you don’t have to thank us,” Sutherland looked down at the table briefly, and it wasn’t difficult to notice he was nervous. And was he blushing? “I’m, I mean, we are glad we could help, of course.”

“Still, thank you.”

Sutherland looked up again and Mahanon was happy to notice that a small, a bit hesitant smile appeared on the man’s face as their eyes met.

Mahanon wasn’t sure where would the Inquisition lead them, but he realized he wanted to find out how his and Sutherland’s possible relationship might progress.

**Author's Note:**

> A fill for a prompt: _"Dragon Age, any Dalish/any non-Dalish, (504): So, I actually said the words "but face tattoos are sexy""_ ([*HERE*](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/694627.html?thread=91457635#t91457635)).
> 
> Thanks for beta to **[lil-1337](http://lil-1337.livejournal.com/)**


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